Deschanel 'not directing Bones this year'

Deschanel originally intended to helm the 14th episode of the Fox drama's current sixth season, but the actress later confirmed that her plans had been postponed until episode "20 or 21".

However, Nathan recently told Give Me My Remote that Deschanel is now unlikely to direct until early in the seventh season.

"I don't think she's going to direct this season," he said. "It became a very complicated issue scheduling-wise and I think we want her to do it when she's fresh. [It will] probably [be] the beginning of next year."

He added that a desire to have Deschanel feature heavily in the sixth season's final episodes had led to the further delay.

"It was a bit unfair to her and also a little bit to the show," he claimed. "We would have had to write her out and we really didn't want to end the year with Emily being light in a few shows."